Photographer documents human cost of conflict minerals

June 22, 2015

Many people have heard about conflict diamonds, but there are also many minerals, including the ones used to make mobile phones and computers, that come at a high human cost. Minerals and precious metals mined to make these products - from countries like DR Congo - sometimes come through the mistreatment of the people working to mine them, everything forced kidnappings, child labor and rape. We’ll talk to Marcus Bleasdale, a documentary photographer who catalogues human rights and conflict. His work on DR Congo is called “The Rape of a Nation.:” We’ll also speak with Sasha Lezhnev, team leader of the D.R. Congo, Great Lakes Region and Lord's Resistance Army team at the Enough Project, where he focuses on peace process and conflict minerals issues and Leslie Thomas, executive and creative director of Chicago-based ArtWorks Projects for Human Rights. Her group is displaying Bleasdale’s work through July 18, 2015.
(Photo: Courtesy of Marcus Bleasdale)